The section on The Impact of Technology on the Teacher and the Learner has two very interesting points. The idea of encouraging our patients to use technology to seek information and educating them on how to find valid information is great. I have been in the situation where the patient has accessed information on their own and I helped them filter through details, however I had not considered encouraging patient’s to go on the internet to help
better inform themselves. I recently had this discussion with a preceptor of mine and she does encourage her patient’s to use the internet. She does specify to her patients to us either WebMD or E-medicine to help avoid them finding misleading information. I had never thought of encouraging my patients to access the internet, but I have seen the benefits on educating on valid web sites and empowering the patient to research their new diagnosis. This will
become part of my patient education.

In our town, we have similar rough statistics. Other sad points I will make. The response time of emergency personnel to areas where minorities live is slower than to where non-minorities live. This includes police, ambulance, and fire departments. The really sad part is when the ambulance picks up and take minorities to the hospital. It is too late for many minorities. A significant portion die before arriving to our emergency room. Part of the problem is that ambulances generally wait for police escorts when going into the minority communities. I wish things were different.

I agree with the person making this post. I agree with your statistics and suggestions.

My employment includes working as a healthcare informatics researcher and an emergency call center operator. In our town, the majority of the people are Caucasian. The minority are Afro-American, Latino, and others.

The majority of the calls I receive at our call center are regarding suspicious Afro-American males. The people making the calls are Caucasians and Afro-Americans. Notice that the percentage of Afro-American males who are suspicious is far greater than the percentage of Afro-American males living in our city.

I believe two things are happening.
Afro-American males are evolved more in crime than other groups.
Afro-American males are looked upon with more suspicion than any other group.

Medical costs are exploding due to a lack of pricing regulation over the pharmaceutical industry. These high costs of medications are leading patients to seek other means of affordability. Choices that patients are forced into often lead to non-compliance medication regiment. We see the patient not taking their medication due to financial concerns. Some are choosing to skip dosages, cutting pills in half, to go with out food, with hold paying household bills, to not buying them at all so their spouse who is also on medication could buy theirs. This is not an error such as misreading an order, giving the wrong dose or ordering the wrong drug, however it has the same effect in that it is leading to a deterioration of the patient as a whole due to deviation from the plan. Some patients have turned to out of the country purchasing of medications, others to business that buy in gross, over the internet manufactures and some through local grocery store / pharmacy options. There are some warnings that have raised questions whether these medications are tainted, legally accepted by the FDA, are homeopathic substitutions to the prescribed medications which leads to concern and question of side effect they may cause. Resources with in the community and government system are generally available. Unfortunately they often require patients to undertake lengthy processes to get help. Outreach calls to patients usually help identify where social support is needed. Our goal is to aid in giving the patient the best resources so they can have the medication they need. As a nurse I feel we need to be an advocator, a communicator between physician and patient and an educator for the best care for the patient. This includes listening to our patients, hearing if they should choose not to take the treatment ordered and providing them with reasonable options.

Throughout this article, when reference is made to a form this will encompass whether it is a paper form or an electronic form, such as a screen in an electronic medical record system. Human factors focus on designing for human psychological, social, physical, and biological characteristics. Understanding who will be using the documentation tool, whether electronic or paper will enhance its function and understandability by the end-user. The definition of a form is the basic business tool whether printed or electronic for collecting and transmitting information. A form is the catalyst for getting things done, and the record of what was done. Utilizing human factors in forms design is critical to improving the success of the desired outcomes. Spending time and resources on usability testing improves the resulting documentation or use of the system. This will ultimately return improved data capture and reduces errors. At every step of the design process the designer must consider the end-user. For instance, if the end-user is an elderly patient with the possibility of having a disability, consideration must be made in the font size, typography, use of color, and use of plain language. If electronic and information technology is being delivered, following Section 508 standards should be considered. The requirement of this standard, at this time, is for federal agencies; however, it would be wise to consider these standards in all electronic systems for future needs and preparation of any necessary revisions. Plain language, appropriate typography, good layout and screen design may be very necessary for a form to succeed, but these characteristics alone are not sufficient to guarantee that it will work. Human factors and usability testing must be performed to know for sure if the desired results are being achieved. Just as in designing devices, designing forms to be used appropriately and efficiently, the design for the interaction between the user and the form must acknowledge the users’ capabilities, stress levels, work environment, and training needs. Forms must be designed to encourage cooperative responses and lead the form-filler through the form. If designed properly, forms should not cause confusion or inaccurate data gathering. The purpose of a good form is to collect or provide accurate information. If the form doesn’t do that, then it isn’t a good form. It isn’t fulfilling its purpose. Usability testing of forms will enhance the structure and design of the questions and layout of the form. Testing with end-users who are not familiar with the form will help to identify where confusion may be and where changes are needed to reduce errors and increase productivity. Not only is the productivity increased by the end-user, but also increased by the staff who is receiving the data captured on the form, which can be in multiple departments within an organization. Management spends a great deal of time making decisions based on the data it receives and much of this comes from forms. Management time is costly and forms should be designed to reduce labor content as much as possible. Yet forms cost far more than most people realize. Managers frequently see only the printing cost, or in the case of electronic forms, the design cost. Forms design is a critical aspect to optimal data capture. It is particularly interesting to me that when performing an analysis of the task, when designing a medical device, electronic medical record system, tool, or screen display on a medical device, the data from this analysis study is generally captured on a form. The use of a form is so vital to every business aspect and to optimal data capture which enables one to make decisions and to move processes through the workflow. I am surprised at how often people assume because they have a computer and a printer they are now a forms design professional and can design a form. Form analysis and designing requires a forms professional knowledgeable, not only in rules of design analysis for appropriate data capture and transmission, but must be knowledgeable in utilizing human factors and process analysis. This is a crucial area in reducing errors and increasing understandability. Whether the end-user is clinical, non-clinical, staff, the patient or family, this does not change the need for proper forms design. Forms affect everyone and play a very important role in every business process within an organization.

May I point out an observation and some healthcare statistics. It is a known fact that women receive less care and treatment than men for the same coronary artery diseases. As this fact becomes more well known, hopefully women will receive the proper treatment they deserve.

Women must seek heart care and treatment. They must not think that heart problems only occur in men. They must not push themselves into becoming ill as the men.

When I search our healthcare databases, I find that African Americans have a higher homicide death rate than White Americans. Looking deeper, I find that “Black men have been killed by police at a rate some nine to 10 times higher than that for white men dating back to the 1960’s.” See 10 Tips for Black Men to Survive Police Encounters. I realize that George Zimmerman is not a police officer, but he is studying criminal justice.

My suggestion is that protectors (police officers, guards, and watchmen) treat blacks with respect. And that blacks treat the protectors with respect. Read 10 Tips for Black Men to Survive Police Encounters. Parents, we need to be good examples to our children and youth.